The Editor Zambia
Concerns from some Zambians that they “feel” Tongaphobia against President Hakainde Hichilema and the Tonga speaking people should not be dismissed as the routine political lament being hypersensitive about tribalism against Tongas.
The concerns should instead force Zambia to confront an uncomfortable question: are some sections of society increasingly judging fellow citizens not by what they do but by the ethnic group into which they were born? 
Tongaphobia, like any other form of ethnic prejudice, is dangerous because it transforms political disagreement into hatred of an entire community.
A President may be criticised, a political party may be opposed and government policies may be attacked but when anger against an administration becomes hostility towards every member of the ethnic community from which the President comes, the country crosses a very dangerous line.
The recent remarks attributed to the late Professor Jones Kasonso provide a disturbing example of how political anger can descend into outright ethnic hostility.
His comments that “Tongas are a bunch of hateful clowns. Whenever you find one, send it back to its maker… we can’t have a country with Tongas, no.” More of Prof. Kasondo’s rantings went far beyond criticism of President Hakainde Hichilema or the UPND.
They attacked Tongas collectively and used language that many people understandably regarded as deeply offensive and threatening.
The significance of such remarks becomes even clearer when placed alongside the words of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Far from portraying Tongas as a problem, Mnangagwa has spoken warmly about the Tonga-speaking people of Zambia, describing them as among the kindest and most welcoming people he has ever encountered.
Mnangagwa explained that he was brought up in Mumbwa among Tonga-speaking people and that he does not regret that experience.
He described the love, care, and hospitality extended to him and his family as exceptional.
His parents have remained in the Mumbwa area.
There is something profoundly instructive about this contrast. A foreign Head of State who experienced Tonga hospitality as a young man can speak with affection about the community, while a Zambian intellectual could descend into language portraying the same people as collectively hateful.
That contradiction should embarrass every Zambian who believes in One Zambia, One Nation.
It also raises questions about the cancellation of the 2026 Ukusefya pa Ng’wena ceremony by the Bemba Royal Establishment.
The establishment announced that the annual traditional festivities, scheduled for September 17 to 19, had been cancelled because the prevailing mood in UluBemba was not conducive to a joyful celebration.
The Royal Establishment has not stated that the cancellation has anything to do with President Hichilema being Tonga or with his victory in the presidential election. After all, the Royal Establishment extended congratulations to President Hichilema following his victory in the August 13 general election.
That distinction must be respected.
But politics does not exist in a vacuum, and the timing inevitably invites public discussion.
President Hichilema has just won a second term, and his victory has once again exposed Zambia’s deeply entrenched regional and ethnic voting patterns.
It is, therefore, legitimate for citizens to ask whether the political atmosphere surrounding the cancellation has any connection to the election outcome.
Mnangagwa’s experience in Mumbwa offers a powerful reminder that ethnic communities should be judged through human interaction rather than political stereotypes.
His recollection of kindness and hospitality demonstrates that the prejudices politicians and commentators sometimes manufacture can bear little resemblance to ordinary people’s lived experiences.
Zambia cannot build a nation by keeping a score of which tribe has suffered more insults. It can only survive by rejecting the dangerous proposition that a person’s ethnicity determines whether they belong.
The lesson from Kasonso’s remarks, Mnangagwa’s praise of Tongas and the controversy surrounding Ukusefya pa Ng’wena cancellation should therefore be interrogated.
